Word: russian
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Person of the Week I VANT MY NTV Russian President Vladimir Putin is in a position to control almost everything his countrymen hear and watch after the independent TV-news outlet NTV, owned by Vladimir Gusinsky, a prominent government critic, fell under control of a state-affiliated conglomerate...
...only one paying it. The dismantling of Media-Most has left Russia without any credible voice to challenge the information machine of an increasingly authoritarian government. And as Putin's grip on the media tightened last week, so did his control of Russian party politics. Otechestvo, a party headed by former Putin rivals Yuri Luzhkov and Yevgeni Primakov, announced that it would merge with the pro-Putin Yedvinstvo party in November; two more Duma factions threw their lot in with the new force, giving the government a 235-vote majority. Though the Kremlin maintains its actions are financially motivated, many...
...week the State Department publicly called the campaign against Media-Most "politically motivated" and "deeply disappointing." But more dramatic moves, such as excluding Russia from meetings of the G-8 group of industrialized nations or blocking its access to the World Trade Organization, were only idly discussed. "If the Russian people are not willing to defend this valuable achievement," said a State Department official, "then it's not up to us to defend...
...from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and loft a Soyuz capsule into space. A day or so later, the capsule will rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station (ISS)--thus earning a place in the annals of space history. For aboard that Soyuz craft, along with two Russian cosmonauts, will be a 60-year-old American millionaire named Dennis Tito. Amateurs have flown in space before--including three U.S. congressmen, a Russian politician, a Japanese TV reporter and a Saudi prince--but Tito will be the first paying tourist...
...late last week, after months of trying to keep Tito grounded, NASA backed off. It really had little choice. The Russians are partners in the space-station project too, which gives them the right to select their own crews. Kicking them out of the partnership was unthinkable. Not only do the others need Russia's Soyuz capsules (for emergency escapes) and expertise in long-duration space flight, they also want to keep Russian rocket scientists and engineers gainfully employed so that they aren't tempted to sell their services to rogue states...